


Stolen Stars

by angelslaugh



Series: Angelic Dilemmas [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BAMF Women, BAMF Xander Harris, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-03 16:58:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4108228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelslaugh/pseuds/angelslaugh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the angels Fell many of the cherubim left Heaven to escape the war. When one is the Slayer's sister...there is bound to be a LOT of issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This happens before Fallen Skies.

“Oh, how the angels cry,” a young girl said, looking at the sky. Rain fell heavily.

“That’s not angel tears, Buffy.” Buffy turned to her sister, Anne.

“Then what is it, Anne?”

“They fought, they lost. Who else but their Father cries and allows the floodgates of Heaven to open and rain on the Earth?”

Buffy blinked at her twin. Then she looked outside and sighed.

“Whoever’s crying up there should know that we want to play.”

Anne shrugged. “He knows. But He probably mourns for His children.”

Buffy had nothing to say to her twin, just moved away restlessly. Anne stayed there, watching the rain.

_Oh, how the angels fell._

~:~

Fifteen years old and she’d been stuck in a mental institution since she was eleven years old.

She preferred to stay in the main room, where the games were-there were at least six people there talking or playing some kind of game. She got schoolwork brought to her, and she was happy.

For the most part.

There was that terrifying moment each day when the only possessed carer in the asylum entered her room and she fought her normal instincts to smite him…but other than that, she was happy.

And then they came, dropping her twin off.

Anne didn’t need to be sedated-she was almost eerily calm. She only lashed out when it was her week, and even then it was only with words. Never with blows.

“Mother,” she said curtly when she was finally visited by her parents.

Her cold manner took them aback. Especially how she said nothing to her dad.

When she saw Buffy, however, coming in wearing the same clothes as Anne, she smiled and rushed to hug her, the security people tensing a bit.

“Sis!” she cried. “It’s been four years! You never visit!” she pouted.

Buffy laughed a little. “Sorry, sis. Been a bit busy.”

Anne smirked a little. “You were Chosen.”

Buffy’s smile fell, her face becoming confused.

Anne smiled and hugged her again.

“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered in her ear.

~:~

Joyce and Hank Summers left.

Buffy and Anne were put in the same room, her demonic carer pulling some strings (or just screwing with their minds).

“Anne…you never write much. Why not?” Buffy asked. Anne smiled.

“Nothing I said would make Mother less worried. I wrote as little as I possibly could in the hopes I could leave,” she replied, warmth seeping into her tone. “Now, you were Chosen as the vampire Slayer. Am I right?”

Buffy gawked at her twin. “Okay, just how did you know that?”

Anne smiled again. “I know these things. It is my duty to.” Her smile fell a little. “Or, it _was._ ” Her voice cracked a little. Then she took a deep breath and smiled again at Buffy. “You know, I was an angel in Heaven once…”

She regaled Buffy with tales of her escapades in Heaven, matchmaking and all.

When the demon entered, she had continued talking, and Buffy had shushed her.

“Don’t worry,” Anne said, casting a glance over at the demon, “I highly doubt Alex would say anything about this.”

Alex shook his head and allowed his eyes to turn obsidian.

“I’m a demon,” he informed Buffy with a Cheshire grin.

Buffy managed not to scream at his creepiness.

~:~

When Joyce came for Buffy, Anne was released-with the condition that Alex could go with her to monitor her.

Joyce agreed.

~:~

Buffy and Anne entered Sunnydale High School, Buffy nervous, Anne cool, calm, and collected.

“I don’t understand why you’re nervous, Buffy,” the fallen angel said, tilting her head. Behind them, Alex snorted.

“New state, new school, new _everything,_ ” Buffy snapped. “I don’t see how you aren’t!”

“She’s an angel,” Alex scoffed lowly. “She never gets nervous. If she did, we’d see it.”

“I do get nervous,” Anne nodded. “I just haven’t been.”

“When have you ever gotten nervous?” Alex asked, a tone of disbelief entering his voice.

“My first assignment.” A blush spread over Anne’s face. Buffy had a feeling that the angel never forgot any of her assignments.

“Who did you pair together?” Buffy questioned. Anne blinked.

“It wasn’t a _who,_ ” Anne informed her. “I had to pair up a pair of cute little lemurs!” Anne smiled brilliantly. “Love, no matter what form it’s in, is _pure_ and _unconditional._ There’s a such thing as soulmate-identifying marks, but they’re not usually on the human’s skin.” Buffy was intrigued as they entered the office.

“Can you tell me more later?”

Anne nodded, a small smile on her face.

~:~

Alex hadn’t really seen anyone that happy. Or an angel’s Grace glow as brightly as Anne’s did as she talked about helping lemurs (Alex wondered why God-if he existed-even cared about lemurs). Or an angel (before Anne, at least).

Before Anne, Alex had been a crossroads demon (he still was, but he was really beginning to hate the whole bureaucratic system of the Crossroads King. Last he’d heard the Hellhound Master, Azalilith, had gone topside…and became a slight fugitive). Now he pretended to be a low-level threat.

He’d made a deal in the early centuries-not as far back as Alexandra Vitalis (and he certainly wasn’t tortured into a demon by Alexios Vitalis, her father, like Alexandra was- Alexios being one of the Nephilim, though he’d been a hidden one until he’d been cast down into the Pit. Alexios had been taught by another demon by the name of Alistair, one of the oldest demons around)-but during the great Roman Empire. His original name had been Alexandros, Alexandros Kokinos. Alex had lived in Alexandria before he’d summoned the demon for wealth and power; unfortunately Alex had been slain by an assassin two weeks before the hounds had come for him. Back then, it was fifteen years before deals came to an end.

He’d been sent to the racks, tortured by one of Alexios’ students (thank the gods that it had not been Alistair or Alexios), and then he’d been one of the fortunate ones to be chosen by Crowley to be part of the Crossroads demons. Even then, Azalilith and Alexandra Vitalis had been legend among the demons, Azalilith being in awe for being the child of the First Demon, Lilith, and Azazel, the Yellow-Eyed Demon and a Fallen angel and Alexandra Vitalis for being her father’s first successful demon.

Alex had not known how to summon a demon until one of the Judeo-Christians had warned against it. He knew that during that time many of the Romans had made a deal, just to spite him, but he’d been one of the foolish few to actually go through with it.

When he’d crawled out of Hell in the modern day after being sent back down via an exorcism thanks to Elias Finch and Dean _fucking_ Winchester (everyone knew who the Winchesters were now, thanks to Lilith’s gloating about how Dean was going to sell his soul for his brother, Sam Winchester, and Sam Winchester would be Lucifer’s vessel), he’d come back to kill the older Winchester, only to learn that the older Winchester wasn’t… _there_ yet. He couldn’t go back in time yet.

It was very confusing.

He could’ve killed the older Winchester, but…again, it wasn’t time yet.

When he’d gone to the mental hospital to make deals with unsuspecting souls, he’d never expected to see an angel there, so vulnerable. He’d known that the angels walked the Earth. He’d never expected to see one, though.

He didn’t know what was in store for him as he walked into Sunnydale High with his unexpected charge.

~:~

Anne smiled at the principal. He was looking at their files.

“Buffy Summers. You burned down your old school gym.” Principal Flutie grimaced, about to put the paper back into normal sized pieces until-

“It was never proved,” Anne said, looking at him earnestly. “Buffy is such a nice girl-her grades are practically flawless, so how could you say that this is supposed to be a fresh start for her when all your doing is showing that she isn’t able to have a fresh start here.” Anne blinked, her wide eyes giving off the impression that she was innocent.

Principal Flutie looked slightly ashamed and allowed the pieces of Buffy’s old Hemery life to fall into the trash.

“You have a point, Miss Summers. And you’ve been in a mental institution?”

“I,” Alex said, interjecting, “am her carer. I have to make sure she has less than zero psychotic breaks, sir.”

Principal Flutie took a deep breath. “Very well. Welcome to Sunnydale High, students.”

Both Anne and Buffy thanked him profusely.

~:~

Anne walked to her class, ignoring the stares Alex got.

“Alex, do you miss it?”

Alex glanced at her.

“I miss Alexandria,” he replied carefully. “Not the Pits.”

She smiled a little. “I miss home.”

Heaven wasn’t what most people thought; yes, there were the Heavenly Choirs, then the cherubim, then the seraphim, then the archangels (though there were more sects inside of the main three, the main three were usually listed).

Unlike the archangels, however, Anne had never seen the angels’ Father.

Her class was the cherubim, dedicated to the process of doing Heaven’s Will and match-making. NOT naked babies with arrows. That was _so_ two thousand years ago.

Anne had been Chosen for Michael’s will, Anael advising-protesting-against it.

She’d done the work of Heaven and matched John and Mary Winchester; those were two soulmates, destined in tragedy.

It was for this reason Anael had ordered the angels that sent the souls on their way to not imprint their bodies with their soulmate-identifying marks; the ones that had ended in tragedy had slain themselves or did a demon deal. The cherubim were to inscribe their hearts and, when they came together fully, to make the marks vanish.

Inside the angelic orders there were a few cases of angelic bonding-Anael, Inais, and Hannah were in the same garrison and had bonded. Kanael, Liniel, and Jegudiel had also bonded, and they were cherubim.

And, of course, the Archangel of Retribution and Death (though most called her the angel of death)-Azrael-, the Archangel of Messengers-Gabriel-and the Archangel Bringer of Light-Hêlêl, or as most people know the Archangel as, Lucifer-were bonded together.

Aniel-Anne-had escaped the civil war in Heaven, as did most of the Heavenly Choir and the cherubim. She’d asked Joyce for permission to be Anne, and Joyce had agreed. The child-Anne-had never been fully born, thanks to the spell Lilith cast, locking Heaven and throwing the angels out.

Anne had woken up in her crib, screaming about angels and the end of an era-and it was true. Even now, the angels that had Fallen had begun to take up a single last name-Michael used Michael Novak, and Ezekiel-leader of the opposition and mate to Gadreel-had taken up the last name of Milton.

Sooner or later, Anne would have to take up arms.

Sooner or later, the First Seal would be broken by Dean Winchester…and it was all Aniel’s fault.


	2. Chapter 2

Anne and Alex walked to each of Anne’s and Buffy’s classes. Ordinarily, Alex would not have found interest in a school system. It was pathetic (to him), and it irritated him to no end that he was never mentioned much. Sure, he wasn’t Alexander the Great who’d made a demon deal and was never caught (Alex had seen him before, but it had not been in Alex’s… _human_ years) until he’d died a natural death, but come on! He had to have at least an _honorable mention._

Anne was intrigued by the level of human stupidity. Buffy wasn’t exactly the poster child for smartness, but Anne never confessed to being Athena (no, but she may have had a little influence as Aphrodite. Castiel-the angel of solitude and tears, also known as Cassiel [called Cassie by the sassier angels, like Gabriel and Balthazar] had played his hand at Athena. Now the gods actually existed from total accidents...and the one thing she never got is why Athena and Poseidon, after they were actually existing fully and not angels possessing a meatsuit, started a rivalry and denied their attraction to each other. Anne would never understand the Greeks), so she never knew what went on in her human’s twin. Well, Anne’s twin, technically, but the point was there.

As for Buffy…she was still trying to understand that her sister was just a piece of celestial energy that existed on another plane that could burn her eyes out of her skull and that Alex, her angel sister’s carer, was a demon from the Judeo-Christian Hell that might be old enough to have seen Jesus. Yeah, it really unnerved her. She was overloading at this point, and it was starting to hurt her brain.

They entered the first class and sat down. The teacher began talking about random things after she’d placed Anne and Alex in the back (so as not to disrupt the learning of her peers if she ended up having a psychotic breakdown. Anne wondered why people tried to phrase things delicately instead of saying the blunt truth. The teacher had tried to phrase it like ‘in case you have an incident’. Anne had just said, ‘you mean, in case I have a psychotic breakdown in front of my peers’. The teacher had nearly given her detention). She just doodled in her notebook, looking beneath Alex’s skin to see his true form and try to sketch his soulmate…or his old one.

What happened was she drew an angel holding a bow and aiming it at two people-one that looked like his roiling, blackened soul inside of his meatsuit and a slicked-back-bleached-blonde hair of a kick-ass looking vampire that had two distinct, yet molded together sides to him.

“How interesting,” she murmured. She continued, adding a female she really didn’t recognize, also holding a bow, with a seraph blade sheathed on the side.

Stopping, she nearly laughed at the absurdity of the drawing.

What in Hell would draw a Cupid-Seraph (if there was such a thing), a vampire with a soul-yet-without, and a demon inside of Alex together?

~:~

Anne entered the library just as her Watcher gave her the Vampyr guide.

“That thing,” Alex growled, shocking the Watcher, “begins and ends with a big bunch of absolute _shit._ ”

The Watcher looked scandalized.

“Alexander Kokinos, sorry,” Alex said, “junior Watcher. This here is Anne Summers, my, er…Potential.”

The Watcher rushed over to them, smiling a little bit. “Sister of Miss Buffy Summers? I’m shocked I didn’t get a memo.”

“Travers, um, wanted to keep it a secret,” Alex lied brilliantly. “You know how he is. Never trusting anyone.”

The Watcher grinned. “Ah, you must be an American trainee. I’m Rupert Giles, nice to meet you.”

Anne shrugged past him. “Yeah, yeah. Buffy, we need to get our books for class.”

Buffy smiled sarcastically. “As you wish, _Mom.”_

Anne gave her a dirty look. “I’m not old enough to be Mom. However, I am old enough to be your senior.” A wicked smile appeared on her face. “Those nasty vampires will end with my textbook!” She grabbed a textbook and darted out of the library.

Alex placed a hand over his eyes.

“Are you sure she’s a Potential?” Mr. Giles asked.

Alex gave him a mirthless smile.

“I think she’s a potential _nutcase_ ,” he said before running after her, using his teleporting skills when he was out of sight and materializing in a broom closet just as the cherub darted by. He grabbed her and dragged her inside. “Are you _trying_ to get us sent back?” he demanded.

“Watcher, Potential, demon, angel, sanity, insanity,” she said shooing it all away with a wild motion of her arm. “What’s the difference, really?”

“Well, for starters-“

“Shut up, Alex. That was a rhetorical question.”

~:~

Alex lay on his cot in her room that night. For them, it was necessary. Anne had nightmares about real possibilities of how the world could end because of her matchmaking.

“Alex?” He turned to face her. While it was still dark, his demonic essence had made it to where he had near-perfect vision. Anne could probably see a lot more than he could. It probably looked like a dimmer day to her.

“Yeah?”

“I’m kind of scared.”

Alex frowned. The fallen angel had never openly admitted anything like that before.

“Why?” he asked.

Anne sighed.

“I…want my Grace back, fully. I want to be connected to Heaven again, but I’m scared that I’ll never be a good cherubim again. It’s kind of scary, free will.”

“It is,” Alex agreed quietly.

There was a silence.

Then, “Hey, Alex?” Her voice was almost silent. “Can you…would you sleep with me? On the bed, I mean?”

Alex jolted upright. He stared at the angel’s form underneath the blanket for a few minutes until he found his voice.

“Anne…I’m a _demon,_ not an angel. I could kill you and you’d die sleeping.”

“I know,” she snapped. “Now hurry up, I’m tired.”

Apparently she didn’t care that he’d murdered people in his time as a demon.

“You sure?” he asked one last time.

“As sure as the bruise you’re going to get if you don’t hurry the fuck up,” she said brightly.

Alex stood and slipped under her covers. Instantly her back was to his front, her head tucked under his chin.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

Alex waited until he heard steady breaths before releasing one of his own.

It seemed she trusted him now.

He hoped that the trust wasn’t misplaced. 


	3. Chapter 3

Elijah Mikaelson knew about Hellmouths and Slayers. Many of his kind thought they were myths, as the Slayers thought Elijah’s kind were myths.

There was something…intriguing…in Sunnydale. A scent he’d followed from LA-two scents, actually, but he had to guess that the more interesting scent would be the Slayer who’d been locked up in a mental hospital.

His siblings were all locked up, not that he particularly cared right then. Well, Klaus wasn’t, but Elijah had actively avoided the hybrid while tracking the newest Slayer.

He walked along the sidewalk of the Hellmouth casually, looking over at the hordes of students as they exited Sunnydale High School. Then he sensed a creature far… _older_ than he pass by him. His gaze fell upon a girl with golden hair that contrasted to another’s black.

The creature said something and stopped, stepping away from her companions and walking out of the flow of students. Elijah walked past her-then he sensed her walking beside him.

He tensed. He didn’t know if she was a great threat, but who knew-

“Relax. I can’t smite you right now, though I could still melt your eyeballs,” the creature said, rather cheerfully. “I’m Anne, Anne Summers. Why are you pseudo-stalking my sister?”

Elijah blinked. This girl was rather… _blunt,_ but… “I was not _pseudo-stalking_ your sister.”

“Okay, so you’re _stalking_ her then. Why?”

Elijah almost protested that _no, he was not stalking her sister,_ but he knew that he shouldn’t be so petty. Taking a glance at the teenager next to him, he was shocked to see a young woman with such… _old_ eyes that were still bright, despite what she must have seen.

“I thought it was your companion that was the older creature,” he confessed. The teenager glanced at him, a small smirk on her face.

“He is,” she said. “He’s, maybe a little older than you.”

“How can you tell?” Elijah asked sharply. Two dangerous other-creatures he knew nothing about-this could cause a lot of trouble-for _them_.

“Puh-lease, you think that you’re the only supernatural creature on a Hellmouth?” she snickered. “Unlike me, however, you aren’t trapped in the body of a teenager.” She pouted, and Elijah suddenly wondered why he was talking to her at all. It wasn’t as though she were interesting.

Well, she _was_ , actually, but that wasn’t the point.

“Tell me,” he said, using all of his charm on the girl, “what are you?”

She smelled like a normal human, but he knew she wasn’t. Even werewolves aged and died like normal humans, and she wasn’t Elijah’s mother, so…

“I used to be an angel of the Lord,” she said, a half smile appearing on her lips. “But then the Angelic War began and then we Fell. I was lucky to escape.” She gave a mirthless smile, one Elijah had given many times over the years to those people who had died as a result of Klaus’ rage. “Anyway, you should come to my house for dinner.” Elijah stared at her. “You’ll get answers and my mom won’t be home.”

She sped ahead of Elijah and Elijah kept walking slowly, thinking of how curious that girl was.

~:~

“I invited a strange man over,” Anne informed her sister. “Mom won’t be back until the weekend, so I figured with an angel and a demon protecting you, you should be just fine.”

Buffy stared at her sister, dropping her book bag in shock, Alex putting his face in his hand and laughing sarcastically.

“And who is this man?” Alex finally managed to ask.

Anne flipped open her history textbook. “Elijah Mikaelson. He never introduced himself, but he was a magically-made vampire with a lot of charm and is currently stalking you, Buffy, so I figured why not?”

“He’s outside?” Buffy hissed. Both Alex and Anne closed their eyes for a second.

“Yes,” came the response in unison as their eyes snapped open.

A polite knock was heard. Buffy got up when it was clear that Anne wasn’t going to do anything.

“I’m Elijah Mikaelson, your sister invited me for dinner?” the smooth vampire said.

“Come in, we’re doing homework.” Buffy glanced at Alex with a ‘help!’ look.

Alex took pity on her. “I heard you’re a vampire. Thousand years so far?”

“Indeed.” They started chatting on Ancient Rome and other places that Buffy would never understand unless she became an immortal being.

Anne hissed in pain as her wings flexed. Alex faltered, glancing at her, but Anne shook her head and he resumed.

~:~

“So, what are you?” Elijah asked at the table. Surprisingly enough, it had been quite peaceful for Buffy.

Alex grinned slyly at the vampire. “Demon.” Elijah nodded thoughtfully at looked at Buffy.

“Slayer,” she said, rolling her eyes in a dismissive way.

“Cherub,” Anne said casually, winking at Elijah, who blinked a little bit. “And you are a vampire that everyone hates.”

Elijah tilted his head. “I am,” he acknowledged. “Originally I was born in the Kingdom of Norway in the Viking era a little more than a thousand years ago. Not as bloody as the Romans,” he said, looking at Alex. “I am one of the first vampires, one of the eldest. My family is…complicated.”

“How complicated?” Buffy asked, not caring if she was being unnaturally brutal.

“My mother was the witch who cast the spell on us and our father, then our father killed us, and then my brother Niklaus daggered most of my family along the years,” Elijah said shortly.

“You have better relations than my family,” Anne and Alex said in unison. The two glared at each other.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Anne grabbed it and Buffy looked at Elijah.

“So why did Anne think you were stalking me?”

If Elijah could blush, Buffy was certain that he would.

“I followed your scent. I did not stalk you,” he said, scowling.

Buffy ended up snorting. “That sounds like stalking to me.”

Elijah glared. It didn’t seem to intimidate her.

“Buffy! It’s Giles!”

Buffy’s face turned from a smile into a frown.

“Can’t the Watcher stuff be left at school?” she hissed as she got up.

~:~

As Buffy left, Alex turned to glare at the younger vampire.

“You hurt them, I won’t hesitate to end you,” he growled, meaning it.

Elijah nodded and stood. “I should take my leave,” he said, obviously knowing he was no longer welcome.

“Good,” the demon said, nodding. Elijah left.

“Is he gone?” Buffy asked, somewhat disappointed.

“Yep,” Alex said cheerfully. “Now go to bed-I’ll finish your homework.”

Anne and Buffy eyed him like he was possessed.

Actually, his body was, but that wasn’t the point.

“Alien?” Buffy questioned, looking at Anne.

“Naw, he wouldn’t know Earth culture,” Anne responded absently.

Alex shooed them away.


	4. Chapter 4

“Come on, Anne! We have to hurry or else we’ll miss tryouts!” Buffy hissed. Anne slumped in her uniform as she followed her sister to the gym.

“Can’t I just ask you to light someone on fire?” Anne pleaded with Alex, who shook his head and smirked.

“Sorry, darling, you’ll have to light the match yourself,” he responded, his eyes briefly turning crossroads red. Anne shoved him away and stalked away, Alex grinning when he realized that she hadn’t shoved him away because of his eyes, just because she was a whiny brat.

Especially as a human.

Then again, he’d seen her wings.

“Did you ask Alex to light someone on fire?” Buffy asked resignedly.

“Yep,” the angel replied, apparently unconcerned about the repercussions.

“You’re very violent for an angel,” Buffy commented, probably intending to make light of this situation, but failing when she saw Anne’s face fall.

“After what I’ve done, I can’t imagine not being violent,” the angel softly replied.

Alex moved next to her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s only the beginning of the end of the world. Those Winchester brats will handle anything the world tosses.”

“Screw you,” Anne said dryly.

Alex leered at her. “When?”

Anne shoved him away again and sped up, vanishing into the gym.

Alex sighed and sped up, hurrying after his charge.

~”~

Alex yawned as Anne finally went up and his jaw stayed dropped as Anne did gravity-defying movements.

When she was done, she flipped her hair back and went to sit next to Alex.

“How’d I do?” she asked in an uninterested tone, but Alex had been watching here for years. Despite her world-ending actions, she was usually set on doing the right thing.

“You beat all of them,” he said, not looking at her. How pitiful, Alex thought. She sought reassurance from a demon.

Well, Alex admitted, she didn’t exactly have any other choice. Anne was lost in a world where she didn’t have seraphim asses dictating her every move.

She’d Fallen when she’d realized what the angels had done, her wings badly burned. She had been unable to leave Heaven after that, per Michael’s orders, so she’d found a small crack in Heaven and Fallen, obviously hoping to die. But she hadn’t. She’d lived. And now she was stuck as a human.

He’d heard her, dreaming, in the asylum. She didn’t know about it, seeing as she hadn’t known about him then, but he had been about to kill her when she’d muttered ‘sorry’. He hadn’t cared about her being sorry, but he’d seen her wings.

And, gradually, he’d learned. First from her dream-she spoke a lot-and then from her actions. Couples she walked by that seemed head over heels in love with each other, she’d tensed and walked away from them, her burnt wings flaring. And then was that customary agony that hit her when she moved her wings…she seemed to have gotten used to it.

Alex turned his head upon sensing the Mikaelson vampire nearby. He’d never expected to meet one of the magical, demon-less with-a-soul vampires that didn’t turn to dust when staked, much less the Original vampire (well, one of them, anyway). Really, he was just a low-tiered crossroads demon.

Well, more like near the top of the food chain in the rank of demons, one of Crowley’s favored demons.

Alex sat up, alert, and poked his charge. She twisted to look at him, and he mimed a hellhound.

Obviously, she didn’t get that his hands were curled to look like claws.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“Deal,” he hissed.

She waved him off.

He stood up, leaving quickly, thankful he was wearing a suit.

He appeared at the crossroads, smiling gently, carrying a rose, as the soul was a woman. He handed it to her and watched her flush a little. He realized that this was…Anyanka Jenkins, an old vengeance demon who’d been turned human.

“What do you want, Anyanka?” he asked her quietly.

“I want my powers back,” the ex-demon said.

“You know I can’t, not without express permission from your old master,” he breathed into her ear. “Witchcraft would suit you, though. Perhaps after years of study you can master dark enough magic to return to one.”

Anyanka scowled. Alex tipped her chin up, kissing her without sealing the deal.

Before the two knew it, they’d undressed and fell into another dimension by Alex’s powers.

~”~

When Alex returned with Anya, it was with a less scowling still ex-demon. He smiled at her, then left, heading to his angel charge.

It had only been an hour, but Alex was still tightening his tie as he passed the ex-demon in question who looked sixteen.

 _She must have used a glamour_ , Alex thought to himself.

Anyanka and Alex had been brief lovers a couple hundred years ago.

“Tell no one,” Anya hissed at him.

He only gave her a smirk.

Anne came out of the gym, looking unhappy.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, leaving his tie alone.

“Someone started to spontaneously combust and Buffy’s pissed at me. She thinks I did it,” Anne glumly replied.

“Do you suddenly possess pyrokinetic powers again?” he asked her.

Anne glared at him.

“No, you moron, it wasn’t me! I did perfectly fine without having to reduce someone else to ash.” Anne scowled. “Did you get lucky?” she wondered as the two stood there.

Alex snorted. “Sure you should be worried about it?”

“It’s that irritating smell, demon,” Anne said to him.

“Crossroads demon,” he reminded her.

Anne rolled her eyes. “I don’t feel like saying that,” she said, looking suddenly tired. “Just want this day over with. I’m too tired to do anything.”

Alex frowned. She’d been a vibrant ball of energy, but now, after he’d left, she wasn’t. Like someone with powers was targeting Anne.

“Here, I’ll check you out,” he said to the now-pale girl. His eyes sought Buffy’s, and she walked over to them, concerned.

“Anne, you don’t look well,” she frowned.

“She didn’t light the girl on fire. Check with your Watcher,” he said to her. “I’m going to take Anne home, make her sleep.”

“Alright,” Buffy agreed. “See you when I get home.”

~:~

Buffy raced over to the library.

“Giles,” she called, worried about her angel sister. “Giles, I really need your help,” she called.

Giles came out, a smile on his face. “Yes, Buffy?” he asked.

“What do you know about spontaneous human combustion?” Buffy questioned him. “Also, is there anything about getting someone sick really fast?” she added.

Giles blinked. “There might be, hold on.”

~:~

Alex looked at the sick angel with apprehension. She’d never been sick in her life-it was making Alex wonder if her wings burning made her more human.

Buffy rushed in, dumping her bookbag by Anne’s bed. “Is she okay?” she asked Alex.

“She’s fine. She’s in a deep sleep in order to keep the magical influence at bay. Right now just tell anyone who asks about her that she has the flu.”

Buffy nodded.

~:~

Buffy went to school, her new friends Xandar and Willow by her side.

“Where’s Anne?” Willow wondered.

Buffy blinked. Sure, she’d mentioned Anne a few times…Buffy’s gut lurched. Anne had been staying next to Alex most of the time at school and avoiding human contact.

“Sick,” Buffy said finally. “With a nasty case of the flu.”

Xandar looked at her.

“You’re lying,” he observed. Buffy took a deep breath and sat down. The other two sat down beside her.

“I am,” she acknowledged. “I think it was a spell performed by a cheerleader. Alex’s taking good care of her right now, so she should be fine.”

“Her caretaker?” Xandar asked in disbelief. “How is he able to-“

“Look, I can’t say anything-“ she began, but Alex literally appeared in front of her, his face dark. “Alex, what’s wrong?” Buffy asked, rising from her seat.

“She’s _dying,_ ” Alex said, his eyes flashing red. “There is a black magic _witch_ killing her.”

Buffy’s eyes went dark.

“Then let’s stop them,” she said.

“How can we help?” Willow squeaked timidly.

Alex looked over at her friends. He shook his head.

“I need someone to be bait.”

He looked at Buffy. Buffy swallowed.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy could feel the energy pumping through her veins.

“Definitely a spell,” the Chosen Slayer said through gritted teeth as she fought it.

Willow was pale as she guided Buffy to Giles. “B-but why would A-Amy spell you?”

“She spelled my sister, who actually made it on the team,” the Slayer snapped. “It makes sense that I, a backup cheerleader who is actually on the team, is also on her shit list.”

Alex grinned at her. “You swore. My existence is complete.” It didn’t erase the worry the older man obviously felt. “I’m going to check up on Anne. Make sure Giles knows that it’s Amy who’s trapped in her mother’s house.”

Alex vanished before they rounded to next corner.

~:~

Alex stared at the woman at the crossroads before appearing. Like all crossroads demons, he had a quota to fill-a quota that had been actually finished for about three weeks beforehand. Which was another reason why he’d denied the ex-demon.

“What do you want?” he asked her harshly.

“You’re the demon?” she asked in shock. “Whatever. What I want is to have my own body back, aged younger.”

That was simple. Plus he’d get a raise if Crowley was pleased.

“How much younger?”

“Until I’m old enough for high school again,” huffed the other woman.

“Anything else?” he asked with boredom.

“Yes. You take my daughter’s soul. Not mine.”

Alex scoffed. “Hun, we don’t run a ‘Owe you later’ type of business. Your soul in ten years, or no deal at all.”

Fury burned within the other woman’s eyes.

She yanked Alex’s head down and kissed him roughly.

“Oh,” he called after her, making her turn. “You have half an hour to return to your body.”

“Or what?” demanded the witch.

Alex’s grin became pure evil. “The hounds of hell will yap at your feet,” grinned the demon. He laughed, and vanished.

~:~

Anne had dreams. Dreams of fire and smoke, of screams of pain.

She woke with a fever. A bad one.

“Anne!” Alex’s voice reverberated in her head, causing her to wince and sniff-only to realize her nose was stuffy.

“Shh,” she whispered. “Head. Hurts.”

“I think you and Buffy both got the same spell on you,” Alex whispered. Anne winced, but gestured for him to continue. “Buffy was helped by her stalker. He left some of his blood for you, too,” Alex added.

Anne took a look. Vampire stalkers was not what the angel really needed at the moment.

“I think I’ll just deal,” she said, grabbing a glass and getting some water from the sink. Her wings involuntarily twitched and she stopped, dropping the glass.

Alex looked at her, concerned.

“My wings,” she said, a breath of excitement in her voice. “W-what? Can you see if they’re-“

“I’m sorry,” Alex said.

She closed her eyes and without another word left the room, unaware of Alex staring at her with a rather curious expression on his face.

~:~

“Thanks, you three,” the slightly clammy girl said the next day at school. Buffy looked just as well as she had a week ago, and Anne decided to shock her sister’s friends. “Did you seriously drink your stalker’s gift?”

Buffy made a rude gesture to the other girl, whose eyes widened in genuine shock.

“Alex.” The menace in her voice made the demon gulp a little as he turned.

“Yes, dear?” he asked.

The look in her eyes made him flinch. “You better run, demon.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice.

~:~

While the two supernaturals were messing around a bit, the three mostly human people only watched them with amusement as Anne tried to catch the demon.

“S-so Anne’s an a-angel?” Willow stuttered a little.

Buffy nodded. “Alex is her demon caretaker, and no,” she added sharply when Xandar’s face shut down “he’s not like the demon that killed Jesse.”

“Couldn’t Anne have helped?” Xandar questioned, brushing away the pain of losing his best friend.

“She’s not stuck in the human form for giggles,” Buffy replied sharply. “Alex told me she Fell because of something she did that apparently would end the world. And she ended up in a mental asylum and I’m pretty sure the only reason she got out was because of me.”

Buffy closed her mouth after that, a muscle in her jaw working.

She hadn’t meant to spill, but she kind of felt like she could trust her friends.

~:~

Giles peered down at Anne and Alex, but mostly at Anne as he was finally clued in about the Slayer’s sister being inhuman. The teenage girl simply stared blankly at him, no emotion in her eyes.

“Interesting,” Giles finally said. “How long have you been trapped?”

There was a twitch.

 _Maybe she wants to form a defensive stance?_ Giles wondered. _But why isn’t she?_

“This entire body’s life,” she said finally, not giving anything away. “I Fell on purpose.”

“Why did you Fall?” Giles pondered. Alex looked stony.

But, to his-and everyone’s surprise-Anne answered.

“Because Michael ordered me to do something-and I did it-knowing it was wrong. I intended to die. Instead, my wings are burned to crisps and I can barely move them without being in pain.” She said it clearly and indifferently. “When I die it’ll be at the hands of someone who kills me because they hate the fact that I’m an angel. And you know what?” she said coldly. Giles blinked-and she grinned. “I hate the fact that I’m an angel, too. So anyone who wants to kill me can have a go and probably succeed.”

Alex slanted a glance at her as Giles, unnerved, turned to him.

“Crossroads demon,” the demon offered, offering a sharp grin and removing his eyes from his charge. “I have a quota to fill. Twenty souls a year-today’s deal makes it twenty-one.”

“Why so low?”

“Barely anyone believes in the crossroads demons anymore,” scoffed the demon. “Hunters are our normal fare, seeing as they’re usually the ones dumb enough to actually make a deal. We get the occasional high school student. I just made a deal with a lady so I could have her soul after she…” The demon trailed off, and his eyes flashed, and a cruel grin appeared on his face. “Well, she’s dead now,” he finished, grinning evilly. “She had a half hour to get to her body. The hounds came. Good thing I restored the body and put the kid of the woman back into her own body.”

“Amy?” Anne looked at him. To Giles’ shock, she didn’t seem repulsed. “You mean it wasn’t Amy?”

“Has your soul-sensing dulled along with your arrows?” snarked the demon.

“You’re a Cupid?” asked Giles.

“ _Was_ a Cherub,” scowled the girl. “Cupid’s just Aphrodite’s daughter.”

“And all of the Cupids had a hand in that,” snorted the demon.

Anne looked exasperated. “Not my fault the gods became Tulpas and eventually transcended their original seats of power.”

“Anne,” Buffy interrupted, tilting her head. “What are Tulpas?”

Anne waved her hand dismissively. “Let’s not talk about that. Your stalker, however, left a few minutes ago.”

Buffy reddened as everyone looked around at her. “Anne…”

“Sorry, I just find it a little creepy that he’s following you,” Anne said, holding her hands up in an ‘I surrender’ fashion.

Giles coughed. “Who is stalking you, Buffy?”

“An immortal Original vampire made his own mother,” Anne said bluntly. “I must say, he has a healthier relationship than my own family.”

“How?” Giles asked her, startled.

She gave him a flat look. “The last time I was in Heaven, two archangels are considered dead since they haven’t been seen or heard from since a few months after the Fall, Lucifer’s in a Cage in Hell, the seraphim are brainwashed soldiers who carry out any mission that they are told to do, us Cherubim are tree-hugging hippies that are in love with the idea of love, and the Choir just sings praises to a Father we’ve never even met.” Her voice, too, was flat.

“How many have met Him?” Giles asked, purely for his journal.

“Five angels have met Him, and those weren’t the Grigori or even the Leviathan,” the cherub said dully. “I’m not saying Father doesn’t deserve worship-He does-but it gets annoying when the Choir just sings in hopes that He would come back.” Anne turned away as Giles scribbled it down in his notebook. “Later, everyone. Got to get to class.” With that, Alex and Anne left the room, not even caring about the information they’d given them.


	6. Chapter 6

“Anne, are you okay?” Buffy looked at her sister in question.

Anne flicked a glance towards her sister, but said nothing, only pressed her lips together.

“Today’s not the best of days for her,” Alex said.

Anne shot him a murderous glance.

He only smirked at her. “What?” he asked innocently.

“Anne, if you told me, I’ll help in any way I can,” Buffy assured her.

“I Fell on this day,” Anne replied shortly. “Heaven closed on this day. It seems no matter what, all things related to those _Winchesters_ happen on _this_ day. I even paired Mary and John on this day! I made myself Fall a year later…”

She slammed her head on the desk, and the teacher paused, looking fearfully at Alex, who waved away her concerns.

“My charge is rather irritable today,” he informed her. “Not having a psychotic break.”

“ _You’d_ have a psychotic break if you’d done what I did and was there,” pointed out Anne, though when she spoke it was muffled. If Buffy wasn’t so familiar with her, she wouldn’t have understood her when she was muffled.

She was sure Alex understood, too, because a flash of _understanding_ passed over his eyes.

But he only looked away from her.

Buffy found it rather _irritating_ when they did that.

But she looked at the date. November 2nd.

Taking a deep breath, she waited for the class to end.

~:~

“I wonder,” Buffy began that afternoon, “why all beings without a soul are considered bad.”

“Because they only do evil,” Giles said. Alex snorted.

“I would say all beings are capable of great evil,” Anne said, making everyone look to her. “Whether or they don’t have a soul or not.”

“Do _you_ have a soul?” Xander asked.

Anne shrugged.

“Alex, do I have a soul?”

They turned to Alex, who stared at her for a second.

There was a flicker of _astonishment,_ yes, but, he shook his head.

“No,” he said. “You don’t.”

There was a silence, then Giles looked apologetic, but Anne tilted her head and looked at him in fake confusion.

“Am I a good little girl?”

Alex smirked. “Only as good as you want to be, _lover of love._ ”

Anne went scarlet, but then she took a deep breath and turned to them.

“I have no soul. The only thing tying me to this body is the threads of my Grace, which are connected to my wings. You could snap me like a twig and I can’t do a thing about it. Still, no-soul here. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need one.”

“Anne…” Alex said in a suddenly… _curious_ tone, “why can’t you see other souls?”

Anne tensed her shoulders.

“I don’t have the power,” she told him.

“You should get your Grace back, then,” Alex said.

Anne stood.

“No. I Fell for a reason.” She walked out of the library, Alex vanishing from the spot.

“That was enlightening,” Buffy said meaningfully. “You think that all soulless creatures are evil, but those words are contradicted by both a _demon_ and an _angel._ ” Giles looked properly chastised. “Now, what have we found about this ‘Harvest’ thing?”

They got to work, the words of the angel and demon ringing in each of their heads.

~:~

Anne made her way to the graveyard and sat down at a random stone.

Alex stood behind her.

“Why do you insist on torturing yourself, angel?” he asked her.

“I earned this Hell.”

She found herself yelping as her hair was yanked up, the rest of her body easily following by the demons’ strength.

“Alex!” she was scared. She was _human_ , and he was a _demon._ “Put me down!”

“Your attitude is also _human._ I wonder if you even _remember_ where you Fell. Is that why you’re _this_ easy to hurt?” Her hair was released, and then she was telekinetically pushed onto a headstone.

Since Sunnydale’s graveyards were where all the dead rose (except those in a funeral home), it was no wonder that it was filled with cracked gravestones. As Anne coughed and spat out blood, she noticed in her fuzzy vision she was seeing another cracked headstone. Her vision cleared moments later-and then Alex had a firm grip on her hair.

So he wasn’t playing with her.

Fury pulsed through Anne, and Anne let go of her grasp on his hands and started _clawing_ at his eyes.

He dropped her after a lucky strike, and the cherub sprawled on the ground.

Again, she spat out her blood.

“I remember,” she coughed. “But I don’t want to retrieve it. I die, I blink out. I’m happy like that.”

There was _fury_ in his eyes.

“An angel, beaten by a demon.”

Anne was kicked in the stomach.

“I’m going to make you stronger, Anne.”

Anne rolled onto her back. “By kicking my butt?” she asked, coughing a little.

“Until you can last a lot longer than five minutes against me…yes.”

The next kick was aimed at her face.

Anne knew no more.

~:~

Waking up was a pain.

Her body throbbed. She was sure he had at least _bruised_ her ribs. Her entire head ached.

She got up and glared at Alex, who merely smirked at her.

Elijah stood there, speaking with him, so she didn’t butt in.

Alex’s point of how _weak_ she was in this form botherered her more than she’d admit.

Sure, if they didn’t simply have _vampires_ to worry about she would reluctantly take her Grace…and, she realized with no small amount of horror, angels _could_ steal Grace.

With reluctance, she coughed and brought the two from their discussion.

“Do you know of a place where I can find angel-proof vials?”

~:~

About ten hours later, skipping school just for this, the angel and demon went to Los Angeles.

To her tree.

She could feel it brush against her like someone seeking a warm embrace.

She could feel her wings rise up, but she tensed and winced as the pain zinged through her.

Coaxing the Grace from the tree into the vial wasn’t hard. While the tree was _big,_ it didn’t look near as pretty as seraphim Grace did when it formed a tree upon being ripped out.

Most people didn’t think to chop down a tree with aesthetic beauty. The tree in front of her looked pretty nice in terms of normal trees. It was an evergreen tree, and she smiled as she watched her Grace slide in, and she corked the vial.

~:~

Finding protection spells from some witches wasn’t hard, but Alex coerced them into doing it. The witches she found had been from demon deals, and would need a natural white witch in at least a year to help her guard against it shattering.

But this time, Alex caught her unaware in the witch’s living room.

Anne was shoved up against the wall while the witch worked quickly, having gained five more years until her demon deal ran out.

“Why won’t you use it?” he asked her, tilting his head towards her Grace.

She sighed.

“Nothing for me to help,” she pointed out harshly. _I would rather be left alone than to fight another angel or demon again._

~:~

Events moved in a peculiar fashion.

Every night, rain or sun, Alex took Anne to ‘train’ (but it was mostly just kicking her ass). They moved to the cemeteries Buffy had checked minutes before and left after Anne was down.

Anne was able to finally hold her own after about a month, without her angelic powers.

But with the death of the Master and Buffy’s leaving, one angel-with her powers, and as Fallen as Anne was-moved into town.


	7. Chapter 7

If there was one thing Anne didn’t like, it was something destroying her plans completely.

The Master had been killed, and Buffy had left (and Anne totally did _not_ blame her in the least for going with her dad! Sunnydale was all _vampire_ here, _vampire_ there!), Elijah _discreetly_ following her.

Or stalking, but since Elijah insisted that he wasn’t a stalker, Anne just scowled and ate her cereal, pointing towards the door and giving a pointed look at the jacket that lay on the counter that was Buffy’s.

He’d taken the jacket and left just as Buffy’s mom came in.

“Did Buffy go with Hank?” Joyce asked.

“Yes.” Anne dumped the rest of her cereal in the sink.

Her Grace burned, making her freeze.

Another angel was nearby.

Taking a glance around, Anne didn’t see anyone.

“I’m meeting Xander and Willow,” Anne said as the doorbell rang. “See you later!”

Anne slipped out the back, her vial cooling. Alex was leaning against a tree, and he stared in the house.

“There’s another angel here,” she said to him.

“I know,” he said tightly. “It’s Terumiel.”

Anne felt the blood drain from her face.

Terumiel and Aniel had a _history,_ so to speak. Terumiel was a seraphim and did not like Aniel.

Terumiel was of the opinion that Cherubim were utterly useless. If Terumiel was _here,_ than he must have gotten away from being Michael’s bloodhound long enough to scent her Grace here.

She would have to risk it.

She took off her necklace.

She held it in her hand, then held it out to Alex.

His eyes widened in shock.

“Anne, that’s your-“

“If you break it, it’s not a big deal,” scoffed the cherubim. “Sell it on eBay if you want. I just don’t want it in Terumiel’s paws.”

His mouth twitched. “Let’s go meet your friends,” he said, placing the necklace on his neck.

~:~

Willow didn’t know Anne that well, but even _she_ knew to pause when the angel’s face was white and her eyes looked _huge._ Normally, her eyes were full of agelessness, which always made Willow wonder for a second if Anne was actually older than the universe itself.

But panic on her face was just… _not normal._ Xander looked a little worried when he spotted the duo in the Bronze.

“What’s wrong?” he asked them.

If Willow were to guess, she’d guess family from the way Anne always shut down when she was asked about them.

“A seraphim,” she said.

Willow had _totally_ nailed it.

“His name is Terumiel. It’s terrible he’s come so far. My only guess is that he hates me and could sense my Grace, which is safe.”

Willow had a bad feeling.

“Terumiel _hates_ Cherubim, and he _will_ steal my Grace if given the chance.” She took a shuddering breath. “I might have to take up arms against him, but it will be a battle I might not win,” she admitted.

Willow gasped quietly. _Die so young?_ Wait, there was that look in her eye again.

But it was covered with _hopelessness._

She didn’t care.

Willow smiled at her.

“We’ll help however we can!” Willow smiled.

Anne looked confused.

Alex was looking like he was trying not to smirk.

“Didn’t I say that you were an idiot?” he asked her in an amused tone.

She hit him. “Thanks, guys,” she said, sounding grateful.

~:~

Working with what limited resources they had, they worked to find a way to rid the town of both vampires _and_ Terumiel.

None of them had an encounter with the angel until Willow was browsing a shop.

“Hello, young man, may I help you?” the elderly lady of the shop asked with matronly concern.

Willow glanced at the man, who smiled only the way a wolf in sheep’s clothing would.

“Of course, ma’am. I’m looking for a certain…person.”

The woman blinked. “Are they missing?”

“Ah, no. Not particularly.” The man glanced at Willow, and he chuckled. “Can you help me, little one?”

Willow shrunk behind a stack of books, hoping to leave.

“Sir! What are you-“

Willow shrieked when she was yanked out of the shelves by the arm.

Scared, she gulped and stared at the malice-filled eyes.

“Tell me what I need to know and I will let you go,” he assured the budding white witch. “Tell me where that _cherub_ is.”

She didn’t lie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she squeaked out.

The man sighed. “You know who I am, don’t you, little witch?”

She gulped.

“Oh, Terumiel.” Anne’s weary voice filled the room. “Threatening witches now? How far you’ve fallen. Killing harmless old crones who was already going to die in a year…threatening _my_ witch friend…it’s pathetic, almost.”

Willow blinked. _Why is she here?_

“You lied to me, little witch,” Terumiel said, making Willow gulp.

“No, she just didn’t say the whole truth,” Anne pointed out. “I’m _not_ a cherub anymore.”

Terumiel chuckled.

“Oh, this is _great!_ I can steal your Grace when I find it!”

“Actually, you’re wrong there,” Anne said with a smug grin. “I gave it to my loyal vassal.”

Alex appeared, kneeling on the ground.

Willow blinked. _What. The. Fudge._

“A _demon._ I’m not the one who has fallen, Aniel. Stop this and I’ll let you live. Give me your Grace or I’ll kill both your _vassal_ and your little witch.”

Anne smirked.

“No,” she said. “You won’t. Alex!”

Alex leapt into motion, cutting his hand on the wall as Anne did something suicidal. She ran at Terumiel.

Willow looked for anything to help her.

A book opened out of nowhere. Willow latched onto it.

 _Meld Souls,_ the spell read. As the fight continued, Anne and Terumiel fighting awesome hand-to-hand combat, Willow carefully considered (as much as ‘carefully considered’ as ‘thought up on the fly and I really hope it works’) verb and word switching, not to meld _soul_ , but to meld _Grace._

The witch-to-be cast her first real spell.

Terumiel and Anne stopped, moments after the banishing sigil was made.

Grace poured from Terumiel’s mouth, and he coughed.

Anne turned to Willow, who was pale and tottering on her feet.

But then the white witch moved over to the dying old woman and Anne turned and regarded Terumiel with judgmental eyes.

“This is _not,_ I think, what Father wanted,” she said to him with a raised brow.

“How would _you_ know?” scoffed the human. “You’re nothing but a _cherub_!”

“I was the one that paired John and Mary Winchester together,” she said with flashing eyes. “You may have hunted me here, but you _will_ leave this place.”

“You can’t banish me!” Terumiel yelled, suddenly frightened. “I have no power over _anyone,_ ” he whimpered.

“…then,” Alex said with a nasty grin, “you’ll be expected to pull your weight around here. The Slayer is going to return quite soon. I hope you’re ready.”

Terumiel gulped.

~:~

At that moment, a black, dusty car rode in, crashing into the ‘Welcome to Sunnydale’ sign. A vampire came out, with bleached blonde hair and a leather duster he’d taken from Nikki Wood. A cigarette was between his lips.

“Home sweet home,” he muttered as he took a drag.


	8. Chapter 8

“Again!”

Hits were heard in the library as four, technically five, supernatural beings sparred against each other.

Buffy’s attention was focused on the bo staff, opposing Giles. A free-for-all type of spar with wooden weapons was happening with Terumiel, Anne, and Alex.

Terumiel was in a male body, but Anne had told them Terumiel preferred the female form.

Anne and Terumiel were breathing hard, but Alex wasn’t.

“You two are pathetic,” he said to them.

“Shut up,” Anne huffed.

“We’re…human,” Terumiel gasped out.

“Weak,” he smirked. “You couldn’t last _one_ minute against me last night. Anne lasted three.”

And they watched as Terumiel lunged at Alex, who casually flicked him, sending him reeling back.

Anne lunged at Alex, dodging the blow with experienced grace.

Snapping her hands out rapidly, she hit a series of pressure points.

Alex’s eyes went wide with shock, and he slammed to the ground, unable to move his body.

“That was shocking,” Alex said.

“I closed of your demon energy. Now get up,” Anne ordered. “You and I will fight.”

Anne assumed a fighting position, and a sweaty Terumiel sat down, watching them.

Buffy, the rest of the people in the library that knew about the supernatural, and Giles all stood back.

Thank goodness it was after school, otherwise it would have been awkward to explain.

Alex grinned, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie before rolling up his sleeves. His burnished bronze skin was _almost_ drool-worthy.

Anne shook her head, dislodging the thoughts.

~:~

“May I enter?”

Elijah’s polite voice startled everyone but Anne and Alex.

Alex nodded briefly. Then his attention was solely on his opponent.

Anne waited. Alex blinked.

Both exploded into motion.

Elijah spoke in an undertone.

“I am Elijah Mikaelson. I am under the assumption you are Miss Summers’ watcher?”

Giles glanced to Buffy, who nodded hesitantly.

“There is a vampire in town. William the Bloody. Known as Spike.” Elijah waited for the Watcher’s tentative nod. “He is not the issue. His… _master,_ Drusilla, and the woman Darla _are_ issues.”

“You want them taken care of.” Giles’ carefully controlled disgust rolled off him in waves.

“I do,” he nodded. “If you rid the world of Drusilla-“

“I am not,” Giles said, “the Council of Watchers. I will need to consult with them.”

Elijah eyed him. “I must say, your Slayer did an admirable job.” He started to walk off. “But she _did_ die, did she not?”

Elijah did not face them; he watched the other two beings trying to knock the other out. Alex was violent, trying to harm her permanently. Anne did not-she merely wanted to do it the quickest way.

“She did, but only five minutes.” Giles wanted the old vampire out.

“Ah. It seems you will have another Slayer waking up in the world.” Elijah finally looked at him. “Magic is all about intentions.”

When a Slayer dies, another is called.

“I’m sure the Council will make an exception,” Giles said.

Elijah gazed at him.

“If she’s still here by the time she is eighteen…”

“I will address that if it comes to that,” Giles said coldly. “Now please leave.”

But Elijah was looking at the angel and demon.

Giles looked, and his jaw dropped.

Around Alex, what looked like an aura of pure darkness was visible, leaving a black trail. Around Anne was a glowing halo of light.

Looking at the humans, Giles saw Willow looking at them in awe, and Buffy’s eyes wide.

Xandar didn’t seem to see anything, but he was watching with a rare silence.

Cordelia had stopped using her nail polish and was just staring.

Terumiel’s eyes were full of anger.

It seemed that Xandar was the only one without any magical latent talent.

He looked at the two fighting. Sweat was appearing on their bodies, and Anne looked ready to keel over.

One hit later and she was down, unconscious.

The shimmering glow dissipated, as did the black around Alex.

These two were powerful-Anne being an angel (although a Fallen one at that) and Alex a demon.

~:~

“You were amazing,” Giles said to the duo, who looked at him, Anne blinking at his random comment.

“What?” she asked blankly. “The fight?”

“Indeed.”

“It would have been more awesome if I had my Grace.”

“You might have a chance to use it,” Alex said to her. “Because now we have a huge problem. He brought out a newspaper.

_ANGEL ENTERPRISES VS ANGEL INCORPORATED_

Anne sat up swiftly, a cold feeling entering her.

_Angel Enterprises, a recently developed company founded by Ezekiel and Gadreel Milton, is at a standstill with Angel Incorporated, another recently developed company founded by Michael and Raphael Novak._

Those four names froze her. And she stood up, deliberately slowly.

She took a deep breath as she walked out, walking home in a daze.

When she got to the house, she shut her door and took a deep breath.

Then she started tearing her room up.

 _Gadreel._ That name filled her with a fury.

When she had nothing left, she fell to her knees, Alex silently sitting in front of her. Anne cried.

The door opened, and Buffy froze at the destruction. Then she saw Anne being held by Alex, whose eyes were soft.

Buffy closed her door.

~:~

“Gadreel. The one who ruined the universe. _That_ Gadreel,” Terumiel said to Michael on the phone. “But Aniel does not seem to have any inclination to return to be an angel. I would need more Grace-the white witch took mine.”

“Fine. Try to sway the white witch to your side. Grace will arrive shortly. I want Aniel captured. I also want that so-called _vassal_ of hers put down. She is a mere _cherubim._ ”

“As you wish. Do you want anything else?”

“No.”

“I will capture Aniel…and I will kill Alex.”

“Do it quickly.”


	9. Chapter 9

“You suck.” Anne glared at Alex over her piece of pizza.

Alex winked at her. “Only for you, darling.” 

It took a minute for the cherub to get it.

“You -” Her face red, the angel glared at him. “What I meant was -”

Alex smirked at her, and she glared at him again as she realized he knew exactly what she meant. 

“Whatever,” she huffed. “You still suck. In the not-pervy way.”

He grinned at her. “I can suck in -”

“Okay, this conversation went from  _weird_ to  _gross _,”__ Xander interrupted, reminding the angel and demon that they were, in fact, surrounded by  humans and not alone. “Please keep your weird flirting at home.”

Both angel and demon gave Xander identical insulted looks.

“Like I would flirt with an  _angel _,”__ Alex said with a sneer, stepping back.

“And I would never stoop so low to flirt with a  _demon _,”__  Anne said, her voice cooling.

“Too bad for you, angel?” Alex shot back with a vicious smirk. Anne’s face darkened. 

“I am an angel of the Lord. I am a-, I am above such things.” Nobody missed the way her voice broke as she set her piece of pizza down and smiled at the others weakly. Alex’s eyes were watching her, his face in a mask of confusion. “I guess I’ll see you guys later. I’m not feeling pizza and ice cream, you know.” 

She walked out of the pizza place.

Willow hit Xander.

“Ow,” Xander hissed.

“Great, now you’ve messed up,” Willow pronounced. “They had a wonderful dynamic, you know.”

“It’s not a dynamic that’s over,” Alex announced. “I still must protect her.”

The necklace around his neck drew Willow’s attention, especially since it seemed to brighten.

~:~

Spike the vampire was out walking, doing nothing but looking at the town that was Sunnydale. Not much was there, considering it was a Hellmouth -   the hellmouth itself was  closed. He should’ve just gone to Cleveland.

A black-haired girl was walking by herself, looking unarmed and helpless, but gave an aura of ‘fuck off’ and ‘drowning in misery’. 

Spike watched her for a moment, then she stopped.

“Terumiel, why do you follow me?”

“Dearest Aniel,” a man said, coming from behind a tree. “Michael wants you back into the fold.”

“You must have a death wish,” Aniel said softly. “I am but an ordinary human.”

“Far from  _ordinary _,”__ Terumiel countered. “An angel without her wings is not something to be feared.”

“The same can be said about you,” Aniel retorted. Spike remained where he was at. “I am simply a lowly cherubim, even if I had my Grace.  Do not pretend that if given the chance you wouldn’t kill me.”

Spike’s scarred eyebrow rose. Someone appeared behind Terumiel, the man’s eyes a vibrant bloody red.

“Terumiel,” the man with red eyes said in a sing-song way. “You’ve been a bad, bad boy, you know. Cornering Aniel -”

Terumiel whirled and raised a blade. Silver glinted.

As it descended, Spike spotted a bow appearing in Aniel’s hands, a bow with a silver arrow.

“ _STOP _.”__

The very air vibrated with the voice of Aniel. Terumiel stopped, turning his head and paling when he spotted the bow and arrow.

 _“RELEASE THE BLADE,”_  Aniel commanded.

Terumiel dropped the blade.

_“THIS IS THE FINAL TIME I SPARE YOUR LIFE, TERUMIEL. LEAVE THIS TOWN AND NEVER RETURN.”_

Terumiel’s feet pounded the pavement as he vanished into the night.

Aniel’s bow disappeared, sweat breaking out on Aniel’s face.  As Terumiel vanished, the girl fell on seemingly nerveless legs, the man disappearing and reappearing in front of her.

“Angel, I’m sorry about earlier,” the man who held her said.

“I, too, am sorry,” Aniel told him. “I believe that we can still be friends.”

The girl went limp, and the man spoke out loud before disappearing.

_“I don’t want to be your friend.”_

And through it all, Spike just watched; when the man disappeared, he threw his head back and exhaled, smoke coming from his mouth.

What the hell did he just witness?

~:~

Anne was walking, alone, when she felt Terumiel’s presence. He wasn’t all that subtle.

She allowed him to talk, only because she really couldn’t manifest a weapon.

Until she could.  And it was like no other bow she had created from her Grace, full of arrows that were harmless to mortals, like her son Cupid’s - or Eros, depending on who you went with.

No. It was a sharp arrow, ready to kill Terumiel for daring to lay a hand on what was hers.  _Her_ demon vassal, her demon  _ally _,__ her demon  _friend _.__ An arrow that was made with her rage, and her bow which was a longbow, beautiful and ultimately deadly.

An old-fashioned weapon, sure. But the one she was most comfortable with, the most sure of. No angel blade would feel as this did.

Her arrow sparkled in the night, glinting under the moon as she used her True Voice to speak for the first time in over a decade.

__“STOP.”_ _

It rang through the air like a chorus of a thousand bells.  Nowhere near as gorgeous as the Heavenly Choir and nowhere as powerful as the seraphim or archangels,  but it was like a spark in absolute suffocating blackness - lovely, joyful, and full of love. Even as she spoke, she felt the love her Father had gifted her to feel.

 _“RELEASE THE BLADE,”_ she ordered, sweat starting to break out on her body. 

Terumiel dropped the blade.

 _“THIS IS THE FINAL TIME I SPARE YOUR LIFE, TERUMIEL. LEAVE THIS TOWN AND NEVER RETURN,”_  she ordered the former angel.

Terumiel ran.

When he was gone, the anger drained out of her, her weapon leaving her, her Grace becoming passive once more.  She stood there for a second, soaked in sweat, before her legs failed her and she dropped to the ground.

Alex caught her before she hit it.

“Angel, I’m sorry about earlier,” he whispered, sincerity in his eyes.

“I, too, am sorry,” she told him. “I believe that we can still be friends.”

She thought she heard him say something as she passed out, but before she could ask she slid into the welcome darkness.

~:~

Alex could only watch with wide eyes as Anne summoned a beautiful bow, armed with a silver arrow that was  _definitely_ forged from Heaven. Her eyes glowed with her Grace, and when she spoke, he was stunned to realize that she wasn’t turning him to ash.

For a long moment, he watched her.

He remembered, once, in his old life, his mortal life, his daughter Aurelia, who was skilled with weapons, had claimed to be blessed by the goddess Diana; he wondered to himself if Anne had taken a stint as Artemis/Diana, too.

Alex shoved that thought away as she collapsed, and he found himself saying to her unconscious body, “I don’t want to be your  _friend _.”__

He held her for a moment longer, then disappeared and set her down in her bed.

He pushed a lock of her hair out of her face gently.

He was becoming more foolhardy, less of a demon.


End file.
